Mess o' Messe

So I’m here at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, and I’ll be honest—the jetlag has left me pretty delirious, and the glut of frankfurters and döner kebabs, while delicious, has left me in a less than coherent state. I walked the halls

So I’m here at Musikmesse in Frankfurt, and I’ll be honest—the jetlag has left me pretty delirious, and the glut of frankfurters and döner kebabs, while delicious, has left me in a less-than-coherent state. I walked the halls today and had some great chats with the folks at Warwick, Gallien-Krueger, TC Electronic, Gibson, Rotosound, Ampeg, Source Audio, and more. The Warwick booth is a pretty primo hang—I’ll definitely be sharing what they’re up to in the next few days. Gibson’s got a lot going on in the bass front, as well. And I got a sneak peak at a new stompbox from Source Audio that’s sure to make the hearts of funkateers flutter. Mum’s the word for the moment, but we’ll definitely get the word out when the time is right. There’ll be lots more to come in the next few days, but for the time being, check out the photos in BP's Flickr widget. Ciao for now!

I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER BE MORE portable than this I’m running a Mark Bass Little Mark Tube 800 into two Acme Sound B1 3 way cabinets. The whole thing weighs less than your average 5th grader and has about

So what did you do Valentine’s Day weekend? Take your sweetheart to a romantic dinner that involved candlelight and chocolates? Not me. To prove my undying affection for the bass, I spent that weekend in San Diego at the Alleva

First, it's come to my attention that the kind folks at Bass Player Magazine have launched a new website (www.bassplayer.com), and as part of it they're posting blogs by their writers. So some of the stuff I write here will end up over there. If you're reading this at the BP site already, well, hello!

“It’s a small world after all.” That’s what the happy puppets in Fantasyland would have you believe, but I ain’t buying it. Having spent at nearly two days of my life on planes and trains travelling to Musikmesse—the massive music

By Bryan BellerI just turned 40 years old. It’s funny my mind is sharper and more at peace than ever with the rigors of freelance musician travel, yet my body is showing signs of begging to differ, most notably when

HERE’S MY RIG. IT’S AS SIMPLE AS they come. I’ve got a mahogany finished ’69 Gibson EB 0, with all the original paper work and case. A ’70s Musitronics Mutron Phasor. My amp is a Traynor bass mate YBA 2A

Left A late ’60s 200 watt Kustom Frankenstein on top of a 4Ω Kustom cabinet with three 15" CTS speakers. Center 400 watt reissue Kustom head on top of a 4Ω Kustom cabinet with a 15" Eminence speaker and 15"